summer / fall book report

It's been since April since I have blogged a book report, so there are quite a few to document!  I have two notes on my phone of book suggestions.  I bet I add to these lists at least once a week!  Between chatting about books with my girlfriends and my guests at the b+b, I get so many recommendations.  I love it!  Between those two lists and our Olsonfield Book Club, I have enough book suggestions to last me a year.  Also - after writing this point, I realized that I never really explain what the books are about which has never been on purpose but is probably because you can click the link to read a professional  and experienced writer explain the book to you.  I'll just tell you if I liked it or not.  heehee

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physical books read
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If I Stay + Where She Went // These are both YA books, and I gotta say...I loved them.  Ha!  #youngadultatheart  They were a perfect mix of quick reads + chick flick books.  I enjoyed Where She Went more than I enjoyed If I Stay but both of them really were great.  I ended up watching If I Stay as it's now a movie and I sincerely hope that they come out with a movie for Where She Went, too!

Room // Man oh man.  My friend Laura was telling me how she was finishing this book at lunch one day and that evening Mary sent me the movie trailer for it.  I took it as a sign that it was a must read.  This one was absolutely heartbreaking but yet I could not put it down at the same time.  I was trying to explain to a few friends the general idea of the book and they both said "WHY would you want to read a book like that?!"  I can totally understand where they are coming from but as difficult as it was to read knowing that this is very much a reality for many little kiddos.  It was also good and kind of necessary seeing a different perspective on the lives that are lived out there.

A Man Called Ove // Mary picked this one for our Olsonfield Book Club and I think we both agreed it was one of the most touching books we had read in a while!  It was so beautifully written with the slightest bit of an edge.  Hunter and I were driving to Nebraska when I finished this book and I was sobbing at the ending.  I remember putting the book down after I had finished it and looked out the window crying pretty hard and Hunter just softly says "So.....good book?"  Ha! Yeah.  Great book.

The One & Only // I downloaded this book shortly after my the accident - I needed an easy breezy book that I didn't have to pay too much attention to.  It was an mindless read which was just what I was looking for.  I do love me some Emily Griffin but it was just a little odd.  It was good, just kind of a plot twist of a young woman falling in love with her best friend's dad - you don't typically see that in too many books.  Ha!

Let the Great World Spin // Gah - such a great book.  This storyline has maybe 4-5 really solid plot lines with different characters and as the book evolves you get to see how each character is related and their lives intertwine with one another.  I read this on my Kindle and I highlighted at least a dozen different quotes from my book.  My favorite, and one that I think represents the book really well, is "Literature can remind us that not all life is already written down: there are still so many stories to be told."  

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audiobooks listened to
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The Happiness Project // This is the first audiobook I've listened to that I wish I had read versus listen to.  The author narrates the book, which unlike the next book on my list, it totally killed the vibe for me.  This book has so many great stories and reminders on how to live an authentic and truly happy life.  However, the author....well....her voice drove me absolutely crazy.  Ha!  I wouldn't mind purchasing this book to reread it and highlight my favorite parts.  I recommended this book to a friend here in Steamboat - she read it on her e-reader and really loved it.  I'll give it a second shot.

A House in the Sky // This might be one of my top 3 favorite books I've read in 2015.  Unlike The Happiness Project, Amanda the author narrates this book as well and absolutely kills it.  This book is filled with intensity, passion, fear, love, friendships, enemies and growth.  I will likely listen to this book a few more times because it really was that good.  I highly recommend this as an audiobook for anyone looking for a great read { or listen! }.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks // Another absolutely phenomenal book.  This book is filled with so much knowledge and history over health issues that are hugely prominent today.  The day that I had finished listening to this audiobook, I immediately started playing it again.  Hunter and I were on a long road trip and I wanted him to listen to it as I think he would really enjoy it as well.  We didn't get too far the 2nd time through { because we started listening to To Kill a Mockingbird } but with him working in the medical field, I really think he would enjoy listening to this book.

To Kill a Mockingbird // Oh, To Kill a Mockingbird!  A classic, obviously.  But one that I hadn't read { or did I ever even read it?!  I can't remember } since elementary school.  I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed reading { listening } to this.  I was absolutely hooked and took it with me on every afternoon run, cleaning shift and as I was falling asleep at night.  10 out of 10 for sure.

Go Set a Watchman // Ugh.  Go Set a Watchman.  Probably the biggest disappointment in book form that I had experienced in a while.  It wasn't terrible, but following up To Kill a Mockingbird - it was tough.  I know there is so much history and background on these two books and I certainly respect Harper Lee for her talent, but it didn't hold a flame to TKAM.  After finishing this book, I posted an update to my Facebook reading: "All right fellow bookworms - I just finished Go Set a Watchmen and want to hear your thoughts. My initial reaction after finishing the book is that Harper Lee happened to catch Scout on a nasty week of PMS. I want to hear what you think!"  Have you read this?  I'm so curious to hear other's opinions on the book.

Brain on Fire // I was so enthralled in this book for a solid 3/4ths of it - but then the plot took a turn and I 100% hit a wall where I couldn't have cared less how the book ended.  I was disappointed but still respected the story and this woman's experience.

Who Do You Love // Jennifer Weiner is another favorite chick flick author of mine.  I was traveling to Minneapolis for a good friend's wedding and needed an easy ready to listen to on the plane, light-rail etc.  It was good!, but took a little longer than normal to gain momentum.  Loved the way it ended and I was really thankful to have this book with my on my Minnesota trip! 

Walk Two Moons // I just downloaded this book on Audible but have yet to start it.  I'll let you know what I think of it once I start it, though!

April Book Report

I've been in another of my book worm phases for the past month or so.  Book worm phase = reading whatever I can get my hands on, whenever.  I have been spending a lot of my time painting which lends itself to audio books and the last week+ I've been in the car a lot which provided plenty of reading time.  The evenings I have been at home, I'm finding myself crawling into bed at 8pm { judge if you  must! } to dig into my books.  Here's what I read in March!

All the Light we Cannot See // This was a good book for me, but it wasn't great.  I posted a photo of this book on Instagram when I first started reading it and received a ton of positive feedback on how everyone absolutely loved it.  I think after hearing all of that, I set my expectations too high for the book.  It was a really well written book that really flowed.  A few sections were really long and drug out out for me, though.  I loved the final few chapters and just wished the author had gotten to that spot in the storyline quicker.  I started reading this book on my Kindle but eventually bought it off Audible and listened to the last half of the book.

Girl on the Train // Eh.  I wrote about this book a little in a previous post, but I was pretty disappointed.  The author did do something right, because I was hooked and could not put the book down until the mystery in the book was solved.  But once it was solved, I was disappointed and realized how dark of a book it was.  It made me want to read Chicken Soup for the Soul and get fill my reading moments with uplifting and positive stories rather those of murder and violence.

Me Before You // Man oh man, I loved this book.  I had seen a few bloggers post about it and when I asked my trusted book source Mary on if she's read it { of course she had } and what she thought of it { a simple: "Heartbreaking!  But so good!" } I was sold.  This was another one I listened to on Audible while painting and I was completely hooked.  I would also listen to it at the gym, while I was out for a run, or stick my phone in my bra and listen to it in the car while running errands around town.  She has a variety of other books she's written and I would love to read more of her books.

The Story Hour // This was Audible's Daily Deal one morning and I caved & bought it.  I had about 2 days of painting left on a particular room that I was working on and needed something more than a podcast { that would interrupt my painting to get up and change every 40 minutes }.  It wasn't the storyline I had anticipated, but I did really enjoy this read { or listen! }.  The storyline wasn't necessarily relatable but parts of the book that the women were going through really spoke to me.  I enjoyed this!

At the Bottom of Everything //  I share a Kindle account with Hunter's dad and it works out so well to get a variety of books into my life.  This was one that he had picked out and I started reading it at the beginning of a long weekend on the road.  It took me a few tries to get hooked on the storyline but once I did the book was captivating to me.  I think I highlighted sections in this book more than any I'd ever read.  It was an open, honest and raw story of tragedy, friendship, bonds of family and diversity.  Loved, loved this book.

Cover of Snow // This is another book that Hunter's dad had added to the Kindle account that I started reading without any idea of what the book was about.  It opened with a really dark explanation and visual of a woman waking up and finding her husband had committed suicide overnight { told'ya it was dark }.  The story is all about uncovering secrets of her husband's past she had never known and really finding answers to what caused him to take his own life.  Hunter and I were on a mini-vacation to Moab last week and I finished this book in appx 24 hours.  Yes, literally one day.  It was so good!

I've started Maze Runner, and I'm starting to listen to The Happiness Project on Audible and I'm struggling to finish Rushed on the Kindle.  I would love to hear if you've read anything good lately!  I'm riding out this Book Worm train as long as I possibly can.  Ha!

book > movie

I have always been a pretty shotty movie watcher.  In my defense, it began in my childhood.  We never really watched movies growing up { save for Steel Magnolias, Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken, While You Were Sleeping and all Disney movies } or listened to a lot of music { save for Michael Bolton }.  I didn't really realize this was unusual until my adult years when my old coworkers took to regularly quizzing me on some of the classic and timeless music { think as simple as The Beetles } and I would fail at their questions every.single.time.  I will never forget the visual of my coworker and diehard music lover + musician Clay racing out of his editing suite over to my desk to ask me a music question.  Right when he would see the bewildered and completely lost look on my face he would walk away shaking  his head in his hands muttering "SERIOUSLY, BETH.  You haven't heard of ______!?!?!?!!!  My 5 year old daughter even knows their music!"  The same goes for movies; Sixteen Candles, Beetlejuice, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Goonies are all movies I hadn't seen until up to the past 24 months. A few of those and many others I still haven't seen.

Beth sitting down to watch a movie poses many issues.  If I'm watching the movies at home I have to have something nearby to keep myself busy.  Painting my nails, painting my toenails, wrapping Christmas gifts, working on some crocheting, cooking…the list goes on.  I just get a little bored sitting down for 2 hours staring at a TV.  To be perfectly honest, 8 out of every 10 movies I watch ends with me falling asleep.  If I go to the theatre to watch a movie not only does my ADD go into overdrive, but I often times feel incredibly claustrophobic and squirmy while cursing at the movie theaters for not designing their theatre to be tall person friendly.  The chairs are SO close together with such little leg room!  Needless to say….I don't watch movies all too often.  In fact, when Hunter and I went to see Mockingjay a few months ago I realized it was the first time I'd been to a theatre to see a movie since the last Hunger Games movie came out the winter of 2013.

Man - I'm doing a really great job painting myself to be the perfect movie watcher companion, aren't I?!

Hunter and I had a totally relaxing evening last night and watched Gravity and Gone Girl.  { I have been more than exhausted lately with an aggressive workout schedule + working during the week at the newspaper and all weekends at my part time job which is why I had no problem with laying on the couch and zoning out to the tv for a few hours.  I will say that this is quite the rare circumstance. }  When we had decided on Gone Girl for our 2nd movie, it dawned all the movies I've watched lately have one common denominator; I've read the book.

Mockingjay, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Wild, The Fault in Our Stars, and Gone Girl.  These are all { plus Gravity } the movies I have watched in the past 2 months or so.  When I would go to work and talk to my coworkers about the movies, it would always start with "Well I read the book, and…."  It cracks me up.  There is one way to get me to sit still long enough to watch a movie!  Most of the movies I've enjoyed while a few of them I really hated.  Ha!

Mockingjay / hated.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day / cute movie but, eh.
Wild / loved, loved, loved.
The Fault in Our Stars / hated.
Gone Girl / ehhhhh, meh.

I have Divergent lined up as the next book to movie that I want to see and am I'm thinking of watching it tonight or tomorrow night.  Wee!  With perfect timing too because my nails need a good fresh coat of polish.  Last night, after we finished Gone Girl , Hunter says "Well now you need to hurry up and read 50 Shades of Grey so you can jump on that movie bandwagon, too!"  Yeahhhhhh, that is one book and movie I'm confident I won't ever read or watch.

{Cook}Book it.

Cookbooks are my jam.  I do love the insane variety + recipe options online (thank you, Pinterest!), but there is something about not having to unlock your phone with wet/doughy hands while gunking up your screen trying to find your place in the online recipe.  That is why I've been especially thrilled at the book announcements that have been popping up in my little group of bloggers lately.  Most of them are cookbooks, but a few are not.  I feel like I should pick and choose to prioritize which books to buy first, butttttt let's be honest.  I know I'll buy them all the second I can (preorder or otherwise).  Most of them are vegan/vegetarian cookbooks (#winning!), but 2 of them are lifestyle books.  I don't care - I'll take them all!

ohdeardrea

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Deliciously Ella  

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The Whole Pantry

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My New Roots

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The Green Kitchen

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Seriously Delish

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It's Grace

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Hey Natalie Jean

//no photo but you should click that link to see her darling son!

These ladies above are truly some of my most favorite food bloggers (and lifestyle bloggers x2!) and I really am too excited about each one of these books.  Now.  Who wants to come over for dinner?

Bookworm Beth vol. 3

Oh me oh my.  I sure have let my book updates fall by the wayside.  I'm going to recap these reads best I can, though it may be difficult as most of these books I read back in February/March.  However, I'm going to give it my best shot!  I know that I'm missing a handful of books too, but it's totally my fault for not keeping up with these posts.

This Is Not the Story You Think it Is... A Season of Unlikely Happiness

This book was lent to me by one of the most wise women I know, my Lindsey!  This book left me feeling so refreshed and cleansed.  It was a wonderful reminder to find happiness on the inside rather than all the outside distractions we are faced with.

Plainsong

Plainsong was such quick albeit slightly depressing read of teen pregnancy, abandonment and loneliness.  Through the hardships, the author managed to slip in plenty random acts of kindness and showed that the good in people can shine especially bright throughout hard times.   

Gone Girl

Oh me oh my.  HOW do I possibly recap this book without giving anything away?!  Those who have read it know just what I'm talking about.  I was engrossed in this book from the first page.  I brought it with on our trip to DC this Spring, and even after 12 hour days at a beer festival/dinners with Hunter's aunt, I still managed to stay awake an hour+ past bedtime reading it.  Really and truly, I loved to hate the ending of this book.  Somehow through my anger over the ending, it has me wanting to pick up another one of Gillian's books as I've heard the endings of her other reads are a little more satisfying than this one.

East of the Mountains

This was a book that was given to me to read after Hunter's dad and Hunter both finished it up.  If the two of them can get through it rather quickly, I knew it was one I would enjoy, too.  And enjoy it I did indeed!  It's a great read about a man who tries to cure his diagnosis, personal and health related, through a trip spent with his dogs while in the woods.   Beautifully written with a great flow to it.  Highly recommend it! 

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

Hunter's aunt Judy lent this book to me after I finished Gone Girl while still in DC.  I know I've read it and have also seen the movie years ago.  When I first started reading it, I expected it to be a silly mindless book to keep me entertained on the airplane.  While it did that, it also was far more inspiring than I could have predicted.  It was such a gentle reminder of the precious nature of fragile friendships, family and self discovery.  I strongly, strongly recommend it to anyone in the middle who might find themselves in the middle of self discovery!

Blind Your Ponies

All in all - I loved this book.  Adored it.  My few negative points would be that it was far too long of a book for the point the author ended up getting at, it was primarily about a basketball team, which rather unexpected and  I felt that the relationships and people you grew to love throughout the book weren't properly addressed in the end.  However, it was a completely enchanting tale.  Something cool worth noting is that the book takes place in a little teeny town in Montana.  I finished this book in the car on our drive out to WA, and right when I finished it we passed right by the town/towns mentioned in the book!  Pretty neat.

Phew!  This has me caught up until we've moved to WA.  I feel like I have a list twice as long as this one for the books I've read since we've been here - but that's for another day.  Happy reading friends!

Bookworm Beth vol. 2

Since January, I've still been keeping my nose plastered in many a good book, though I haven't been plowing through them speedily as I was before.  Here is a quick rundown on the books that have been keeping my attention as of late!

Life of Pi

Oh Life of Pi.  My severe love/hate relationship for you is still leaving ME confused.  I brought this book with me when I visited Amie out in NH.  We were far too busy giggling and eating Margarita's chips and salsa for me to read while I was out there, but I had plenty of time on my way back to get fed up with it. almost put it down.  curse the pages.  flip ahead 100 pages in a last ditch effort to freaking read the thing.  I so badly and direly wanted to love this book, I really did.  I remember sending Mary a text from the airport in Chicago during a quick layover on my way back saying "I'm going to do it Mary.  I'm going to quit reading Life of Pi.  I can't go another page."  She supported me, though for some reason I just couldn't do it, I had to keep reading.  I did keep reading, but I really didn't love it.  I will admit to literally flipping ahead 100 pages to get through the supes boring part and to any sort of action part.  Once I reached the action parts, I started liking it.  I did.  I finished the book rather quickly, and was pleased with the ending.  I am really anxious to watch the movie to see how charming they can make the parts that didn't entice me.

Big Rock Candy Mountain

This was another read from my personal Cindy Maddox Library!  This book pulled me in instantly as the first few chapter took place in Fargo North Dakota and referenced towns like Davenport { where my cousins live! }.  Throughout the book it referenced the glorious town of Mayville { Do you hear me Mary and Karley?!  It talked about MAYVILLE! } where my good friends lived for several years in college.  The book was about two young lovers way back in the early 1900's who started a family while hopping from town to town in order to chase jobs and make any sort of money to support their family.  I related to this book on a few levels, not only because it talked about towns I once lived in and know, but also because it was about living the simple life away from the frills of big cities, which is something I can relate to right now.  Though the ending wasn't as dreamy and happy ending as I would have liked, it was real and raw, and for that I really really enjoyed it.

Saving Fish from Drowning

Good golly, Miss. Molly - this was such an incredible read.  I finished the book only last night, so I still have it pretty heavily on my mind.  I thought this one would take me a bit to get into, but I couldn't have been more wrong.  The book is written from the narrative perspective from a deceased character who is watching over a group of her 11 closest friends as they take a trip to Burma where the group suddenly disappears out of thin air.  There isn't much more to say about this other than it was really gripping and such a wonderful read.

That concludes my list of read books up until this point!  I have two more in front of me that I am debating which one to read first, one is a book Hunter recently finished, and another is a book that was lent to me by my sweet friend Lindsey when we saw them this past week in Salt Lake.  I'm fairy certain I've decided to go with the latter book first, but I will keep you all posted!

All images via. 

Bookworm Beth.

I've mentioned it a few times now how I've really done nothing but read so far in 2013, and wanted to take a few minutes to actually list out what I've been reading!

The Contortionist's Handbook. 

This read reminded me of A Million Little Pieces with more of an edge.  At first I thought it was going to be a book strictly about substance abuse, but the storyline had so much more depth and complexity to it.  I would consider rereading this book again knowing what the underlying theme is all about, but I loved it the first time through.  I finished this book in California as we were driving to the beach { Yeah, I'm really fun to be with on vacation.  Reading constantly.  Weeehoo. }, and when I read the last page, I screamed in the car "WHAT???...!!!!  NO.  WHAT DID THE LETTER SAY?!"

Little Bee { also known as The Other Hand }

This was a book I'd had on my nightstand for longer than I care to admit.  I had actually forgot it in California when I was there for Thanksgiving, which is really the only reason I actually started reading it.  I will say, I'm glad it was my last resort for a book, because once I started, I just had to finish right away.  I was so annoyed at the description on the book which really said nothing about what the book was about, but now that I've read it, I have a deeper appreciation for the vague description!  This set the stage for a more serious, African refugee theme that the next two books to follow Little Bee would have, too.  

A Thousand Splendid Suns

My cousin Becky, { Hi Beck! } suggested The Kite Runner + A Thousand Splendid Suns to me this past summer.  I finished The Kite Runner right away, but took a break from reading and didn't pick up A Thousand Splendid Suns for a few months.  I thought I was so ahead of the times as far as these books went, but when I told Mary and Hunter that I had ordered them from Amazon, they both said oh so casually "Oh yeah.  I read those a few years ago.  I have them if you want to borrow them."  Yeah.  Not so much up on the book trend, but better late than never?  Anyway, a few weekends ago when we were in Denver { RIP Broncos season }, I had finished Little Bee Saturday night and started reading Splendid Suns on our 3 hour drive to Steamboat on Sunday.  I read every single mile of the way, and was IMMEDIATELY hooked!  Even after we got to Steamboat, I  passed on running errands/getting groceries for dinner { when do I EVER pass on going grocery shopping?!  When I have a good book. That's when. } and squeezed as much reading into the day as I could without being rude and ignoring the conversation at the dinner table.  I know I could have finished this in one day, but I wanted to spare Hunter trying to sleep with the lamp on until 1am, but successfully finished it the next day.  And successfully la-oved it.

Middlesex

After finishing Splendid Suns, I felt a wave of reading depression as I hadn't grabbed any more books from Denver to bring to Snowy/Steamboat. I was already planning a trip to the bookstore in Laramie while I was walking up the stairs at Hunter's parents house and walked next to his mom's beautiful collection of books. I saw Middlesex, instantly dropped to my knees, slowly pulled it off the shelf in awe and barely whispered "Hunterrrrrrrrr...Mary LOVES THIS BOOK."  That really was my only reason for wanting to desperately to read it and he casually just says to me "You can read any of those books, as long as you return them with no late fees."  WAIT.  What?!  I can read ANY OF THESE BOOKS?  I didn't give him time to retract that statement and think about the fact that in a 3 hour drive all conversation is thrown out the window and I say maybe maximum 5 words to him as I'm reading the ennnntire time.  I just now realized that could in fact be why he is letting me read any of his mom's hundreds of books, but I'm ignoring that revelation.  Anyhoodle, Middlesex is a longer, more complex read than the ones above.  Knowing my track record with reading times leading up to Middlesex, Mary would text "ARE YOU DONE WITH MIDDLESEX YET???" an hour after I told her I had started reading it.  It pained and shamed me to say no, I'm not done yet...but a week spent reading this book was a week perfectly spent.  It was a little bit of a slow start to me and I was confused why they were talking about wars, and depression and people who clearly weren't the main plot of what I thought the book was to be about.  However, after a few chapters, I forgot all about that and got so wrapped up in that plot I was a little annoyed when it got to the main storyline.  I don't want to say too much about the book's story, because it's really not something you can explain.  Remember those 3 hours spend in the snow cat with Hunter?  The only thing that could tear my eyes from the pages was that steller sunset.  I had the book heavy on my brain when we sat down for some drinks with friends after grooming the mountain.  They casually asked me what I do in there for 3 hours, and after I told them I throw on a headlamp, grab my book and am good to go, of course they asked "What are you reading?" { mind you these are people I had just met 10 minutes prior to the question. } I tell them Middlesex in a really sincere hope at least ONE of them had heard about it. No such luck, so the next question is "Ahh.  What's it about?" Shit.  "It's about a hermaphrodite."  I had 6 eyes staring at me blankly and judgingly.  Though we moved on quickly, I did notice that no one asked me any more personal questions the entire time we were with them, aaaaaaand I can't say I blame them.

Next up?   

Life of Pi.

Ohhhhh Life of Pi, { Karley, cover your eyes } why have I been dreading you/putting you off for so long?  I seriously have heard every review of this book possible.  I've heard:

I never finished it.

It's Robby's #1 FAVORITE BOOK.

OMG That is one of Ryan and my all time favorite books!!!

Ugh, I've had that on my nightstand and keep picking new books to read before it.

Life of Pi?  I hated that book.

I really am looking forward to reading it, and figuring out my own opinion of it and will keep you updated as I do just that!

::all images via::